The United States of America has a lengthy history of interest in gaming (called "gambling" or "entertainment" to some) and "gaming" generates a tremendous amount of revenue, has great visibility, and is creating some interesting partnerships. Four events contributed to today's domestic gambling: (#1) State lotteries, beginning in New Hampshire in 1964; (#2) Holiday Inn entering gaming in 1978; (#3) the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) by the United States Congress in 1988; (#4) and human nature. My research interests in "gambling/gaming" developed out of my research into tourism which began in the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga in 1970 and 1971. Living in northern California, with an obvious proximity to Reno, sparked my interest in what the industry calls "gaming" but is really known as "gambling." Papers and publications have resulted from this interest and specific references are also provided at the end of this paper. There has been a lengthy history gaming (called "gambling" or "entertainment" to some) in the Americas and Native Americans are becoming very big "players" in contemporary 21st century activities!

Native American gambling, gaming, or entertainment activities accelerated in the 1980s. Prior to 1988, federally recognized Native American tribes and individual States had the authority to enter into various agreements concerning taxes as well as tribal social services. It was the United States Supreme Court decision in California versus Cabazon Band of Mission Indians (begun in 1986 and eventually decided in favor of the Cabazon in 1987) that resulted in the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. It has been pointed out that the resulting court decision on the Cabazon "allowed unregulated gambling to flourish on Indian reservations [stress added]." Joseph J. Weissmann, 1993, Upping The Ante: Allowing Indian Tribes To Sue States In Federal Court Under The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The George Washington Law Review, Vol. 62, No. 1, pages 123-161, page 124.

"What do the Indian nations of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and several other states have now that they did not have 15 years ago? The answer is political clout. ... [stress added]." Tim Giago, July 30, 2000, Jury Still Out On Indian Gaming's Impact. The San Francisco Chronicle, page 5.

SELECTED URBANOWICZ WEB REFERENCES:

1996a, Gambling or Gaming: Which Is It? (For the CSU, Chico Anthropology Forum, April 11.)
1996b, To Gamble, Or Not To Gamble? Is There A Question? (For the Chico Breakfast Lions Club Meeting, Chico, California, December 10.)
1996c, An Anthropologist looks At The Geography of Gaming. (For the Meeting of the Northern California Geographical Society, December 8.)
1998a, Gambling (Gaming) In The United States of America From An Anthropological Perspective. Presented at the 14th ICAES [International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences] Meetings on the Anthropology of Tourism for the 1998 Congress held at Williamsburg, Virginia, July 29-August 2, 1998.
1998b, Proposition 5 And Native American Gaming Issues. (For the CSU, Chico Anthropology Forum, October 8.)
1999, The Gamble of Gaming: Where Does It Go From Here? (For the AAUW [American Association of University Women] Meeting in Chico, California, March 19.)
2000, http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/Fa2000Anth138.html [September 20, 2000 for ANTH 138]
2001, Gambling Into The 21st Century. Hosts And Guests Revisited: Tourism Issues of the 21st Century, edited by Valene Smith and Maryann Brent (NY: Cognizant Communication Corp.), pp. 69-79. (NOTE: this is based on the 1998a item, Gambling (Gaming) In The United States of America From An Anthropological Perspective. Presented at the 14th ICAES [International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences] Meetings on the Anthropology of Tourism for the 1998 Congress held at Williamsburg, Virginia, July 26-August 2, 1998.)
2002, http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/FALL2002ANTH162.html [November 4, 2002 for ANTH 162]
2003, http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/Sp2003ANTH16.html [April 16, 2003 for ANTH 16]

THE CHANGING NATURE OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL FIELD WORK:

http://www.foxwoods.com/pequots/mptn_home.html [The Mashantucket Pequot, Connecticut]
http://www.mohegansun.com/index.jsp [The Mohegan Sun, Connecticut]
http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-casinopolls1003.artoct03,0,4027809.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dlocal [October 3, 2002} "Two public opinion polls released Wednesday show strong opposition to a third casino in Connecticut."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/gamb04.shtml [September 4, 2000} Indians losing in gambling business. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.] http://www.online-casinos-rated.com/n45.htm [Most Indians haven't Benefited from the 1990s Casino Boom.]
http://www.indiancountry.com/ [Indian Country} "The Nation's Leading American Indian News Source."]
http://www.library.ca.gov/CRB/97/03/crb97003.html#toc [California State library} 1997} Gambling in California. By Roger Dunstan]
http://www.lao.ca.gov/12998_gambling.html [January 1998} Gambling in California} Overview from the Legislative Analyst's Office]
http://www.americancasinoguide.com/News/7-20-01-Rincon.shtml [July 27, 2001} Casinos News} Harrahs and the Rincon Band of San Luiseno Mission Indians]
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/environment/story/4031521p-5056992c.html [August 18, 2002} The Sacramento Bee} In Casino Wars, Indians Hold the cards.]
http://www.gamingfloor.com/Indian_gaming.html [Native Indian Casino News} Good jumping off site.]
http://www.pechanga.net/indian_casinos.htm [Pechanganet] Listing of Indian Casinos]
http://www.pechanga.net/documents/california_indian_casinos.htm [California Indian Casinos]
http://dmoz.org/Games/Gambling/Casinos/Native_American/ [Open Director} Games, Gambling, Casinos, Native Americans]
http://www.casinos-online-casinos-gaming-gambling.com/native-american-indian-gaming.htm [Native American Indian Gambling]
http://www2.dgsys.com/~niga/ [American Indian Gambling and Casino Information Center sponsored by The National Indian Gaming Association]
http://www.online-casinos-locator.com/n44.htm [Las Vegas Continues to Lure California Visitors]
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Sep-01-Sun-2002/business/19393773.html [September 1, 2002} Gambling Beyond Nevada: California Dream} from The Las Vegas Review-Journal].
http://standup.quiknet.com/indian_gambling/ [Indian Gambling} "Stand Up For California is a grassroots, citizen-organized group dedicated to opposing the expansion of gambling in California."]
http://www.casino-gambling-reports.com/GamblingStudy/Tribal%20Gambling/ [National Gambling Impact Study Commission, Final Report} Native American Tribal Gambling.]
http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/articles/14/14-1138.htm [Gambling Magazine} Gambling News]
http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/articles/42/42-42.htm [Gambling Magazine} Trends]

[~1,181words} 8 April 2003]